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How To: Make a Vertical Herb Garden

One of my favorite things about summer is having fresh herbs on hand to use in recipes: basil for homemade pesto, cilantro for tacos, mint for infusing water, etc. And in years past I’ve potted these herbs on our deck, but having them on the floor of the deck isn’t really ideal, with rain causing soil to splash everywhere, blah, blah, blah.

So I decided to make a simple vertical herb garden to keep them in easy reach this summer.

You might be thinking that vertical herb gardens sound kind of complicated. They could be, but this one’s not. Seriously. This is one of the easiest gardening projects ever. Like less than an hour. Maybe less than 30 minutes, depending on how quickly you can make rings out of wire. Because all you need is a trellis, wire, pots, potting soil, and herbs (duh).

Now, if you wanted to put more time and elbow grease into this project, you can certainly diy your trellis. Tom and I considered this, but after pricing wood and supplies, it was easier to buy a ready-made trellis at our local hardware store. I went with wood over metal because I liked the look better and I think it might be a bit sturdier.

Along with the trellis, I picked up some new pots: two 6″ pots and two 8″ pots. You’ll want to select pot sizes based on the spacing of your trellis, but also on how large you’d like your herbs to grow. An 8″ pot is a good standard size, and gives herbs plenty of room to grow. I went with two different sizes since the trellis I chose has two columns, and I wanted to stagger the pots, using smaller at the top and wider at the bottom so it wouldn’t get too top-heavy.

To make the rings that are holding each pot, I used multi-purpose galvanized wire that I already had on hand (galvanized = rust-resistant). This is mainly due to the fact that I couldn’t find pots with lips. Otherwise I would’ve bought a bunch of S-hooks and hung the pots that way.

Tip: It’s a lot easier to make the wire rings when your pots are empty. Just flip ’em over, measure out the length of wire needed, and then twist the ends together to form a hook.

Note: we did have to nail in two extra bars of wood behind the two larger pots. I found that when I placed them in the wire rings, they sort of swung backwards, and the soil and plants would’ve fallen out. The extra pieces of wood gave the pots something to lean against to keep them upright:

What I planted: “Barbeque” Rosemary, Chives, Cilantro and Basil.

Now I need to diy some cute herb markers to stick in each pot! Not because I won’t remember what they are, but because herb markers are adorable and I’d like some.

You, my dear, are a little genius!!! This garden looks fantastic, and I love how creative you got! I totally want one in our yard. Maybe after the landscaping and deck painting is done. So… like 2016 haha Kidding. Sort of…